


living in the shadows

by ghiblitears



Series: the edge of our hope and the end of our days [3]
Category: Pacific Rim (Movies), Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim Fusion, Discussions of Past Trauma, Gen, how that recruitment convo went
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-29 21:59:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19839337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghiblitears/pseuds/ghiblitears
Summary: She wants to look away, but its presence is so daunting she can't. It's a reminder that they'll more than likely lose this war, and be forced to live out the small remainder of their lives in cages of concrete and metal while monsters lurk outside.It's this desperation that's brought her to Bamfield’s wall construction site in the first place – chasing ghosts while the rest of the world tries to align itself.***(Where Keith is still building walls on the coast, and Allura is still looking for a miracle in the middle of war.)





	living in the shadows

**Author's Note:**

> Me: "You know, I don't think I care too much about touching on that conversation that Allura and Keith would have had before he got recruited to the PPDC. Anyone who's seen the movie can basically infer what happened."  
> Me, a thousand words later: "BITCH U THOUGHT LMAO"
> 
> I promise an actual plot related fic in this pacrim AU is coming at some point ToT But this was an exercise in characterization, and I was worried I wouldn't get to touch on Allura's backstory in the main storyline. And you know what? I just plain liked it. It was really nice to write something not zine-related.
> 
> This takes place before even "it will come back", continuing the trend of the order of this series making no sense.
> 
> Comments and kudos are loved and appreciated! <3

For the most part, Vancouver Island is grey. 

The stormy sea reflects the sky until they blur one and the same, an unrelenting wall of discolour that feels as oppressive as the actual Wall that circles the coast. Allura grimaces when she steps off the helicopter and meets the ugly thing's gaze. It practically stares her down, as if to taunt the fall of the Defense Corps. _We're your last line of defense_ , the Wall of Life seems to say. _We're all that's left now that your rangers are dead._

She wants to look away, but its presence is so daunting she can't. It's a reminder that they'll more than likely lose this war, and be forced to live out the small remainder of their lives in cages of concrete and metal while monsters lurk outside. 

It's this desperation that's brought her to Bamfield’s wall construction site in the first place – chasing ghosts while the rest of the world tries to align itself. 

Allura scans the crowd for a face she's seen more frequently in cadet photos than in reality, but it's not there among the sea of workers. She wonders if she's too late. So when she finally does catch a glimpse of those eyes, grey as the stormy landscape around them, she feels the last of her apprehension slip away. She's worried enough. If he decides not to join them, that’s all she can do. 

To her surprise, though, he steps forward. Out of the crowd and towards her. 

“Marshal Khare,” he greets her, in a voice that tries not to betray surprise. 

“Keith Himura-Chase,” she says, and extends a hand. He doesn't take it. “It's good to see you.” 

“Wish I could say the same,” he replies curtly. “Should I assume you came here for me?” 

“Not if there are any other cadets working in construction around here.” She doesn't miss the way he flinches at her words. They both seem to remember that there's an audience to this conversation after a moment, so she steps off the helicopter landing pad and inclines her head towards the woods. “Let's continue this elsewhere,” she proposes.

Keith nods and shoulders his bag. 

*** 

Allura was partly wrong. Vancouver Island is not entirely grey. 

The pine trees that line the beach are a dull green, nearly black in the monochrome landscape, but there's a vibrant , stripped tree branches downed on the shores that stands out against the rest of the bleak world. It's red, kind of. Cedar, she'd assume, with her limited knowledge of the island's geography. 

Keith sits on the branch. Allura sits opposite him. The Pacific crashes against the rocky coastline, provides a rhythmic backdrop to the uncomfortable conversation they're about to have. Tension hangs between them, heavy as the rain clouds on the horizon. It’s a long moment before either of them speaks. 

“How'd you find me?” he asks. 

“LOCCENT gave me your contact in the Vancouver Shatterdome,” she replies, curling into herself as the ocean wind buffets her thick coat and tosses her white hair wildly. Keith doesn't falter against the gale. His thin rain jacket is so large and baggy it could house two of him – working for rations hasn't been kind to him, it seems. “From there, it was just a matter of time.” 

He exhales, stormy eyes cast to the horizon. “Kolivan should've known better.” 

“He wants to see this end as much as the rest of us.” 

He shrugs. “You still haven't told me why you're here.” 

Allura steadies herself. She clasps her gloved hands together and stares him down, puts every ounce of sincerity she can into the gaze. 

“I have a proposition for you.” 

He cuts her off before she can explain what it is; “I'm not going back.” 

One hand rises to her throat, tangles her fingers in the thin chain that holds a single blue crystal around her neck. “I understand your hesitation. You and I have more of a grudge with the program than anyone else.” 

He bristles. “You don't even know me. And what you do know was probably in some cadet report!” 

“And all you know of me is that I am the acting Marshal of the Pan Pacific Defense Corps, and that I inherited the position from my father after what happened in Hawaii. In Vortex Obsidian.” 

He goes still at her words. 

Allura doesn't like to play the card. She hates the pity, hates the pedestal it places her on – she never had to enter the war, not when her life was still good back in London – but the call of duty was too loud to ignore and fate had given her and her father the ability to do something about it. It had led her to Hilo, and to the Shatterdome, and given her a fight. 

Earthshaker had taken everything as a result, that night in the ocean off the Punalu'u black sands beach. Keith, survivor of the Thunderhead attack, should understand where she's coming from more than anyone. 

“I have a Jaeger that needs a pilot,” she continues. And enlistment is at an all-time low after the funding got cut.” 

“So pilot it yourself,” he suggests bitterly. 

She shakes her head. “Earthshaker hurt me worse than I let on.” 

He looks back at her with guarded curiosity. 

“No one has matched the pilots in Compatibility so far. You're a long shot, but you have the drive and tenacity, and you're the last cadet on my list. So I figured it was worth a try.” 

“Pilots?” He raises an eyebrow. “Plural?” 

She smiles. “Horizon Atlas is a three-armed Jaeger. Ranger Shirogane and Ranger Serrano can't pilot her on their own.” 

At that, he straightens up. Recognition flickers in his eyes. “Shirogane and Serrano?” he asks in disbelief. “The Blue pilots? They're still alive?” 

“And they need a co-pilot,” she says. 

He shakes his head. “What makes you think a dropout has any chance at meshing with the Defense Corps' prize team?” 

Allura considers for a long time. “Intuition,” she replies. “And desperation.” 

“Didn't know it was that bad.” 

“It is that bad. And if you stay here and build walls for the rest of your life, it will only get worse.” 

The long silence crests on the sound of the choppy ocean and the wind through the pines. 

Allura had formally met Keith twice, previously, on tours of the other Shatterdomes once she'd taken the position of Marshal. He'd been a confident cadet, unrelenting in his training, a demon on the field of simulated Kaiju attacks. She’d become familiar with his file in the years that had passed since the Vancouver attack, when he'd lashed out and subsequently fled the program after the pressure to fight became too much. Thunderhead had taken his family, but it seemed to have taken something else from him too – something that left him restless and wandering. He hadn't even been assigned a Drift partner when he'd left.

He's right. She barely knows him. All she can hope is he'll make the right decision.

“I'll go.” 

She looks back at him, somewhat surprised. His return stare is guarded. 

“I'm not making any promises,” he says quickly. “and if we aren't compatible, I’m out.” 

“That's all I need from you,” she says, and rises to her feet. “If you have anything here, bring it to the loading dock in a half hour.” 

He stalks off before she can properly dismiss him. She draws her mouth in a thin line to bite back a command that wants to make itself heard. She remembers from his file that he has what Commanders Iverson and Kolivan had agreed was a “discipline issue" with authority. She takes a moment to hope it doesn't make her regret her decision. 

*** 

Two days later, when Lance Serrano pins Keith to the mat and matches his third strike, with Takashi Shirogane nodding in approval from the sidelines, she holds that same hope that this will save everything. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still active on tumblr @ babykeithsmullet!


End file.
